Zebra Finches Eating Eggs

[sgreen91]

Hi everyone,

Few questions. A couple of my Grandmas finches keep eating their eggs. I've had a look online for reasons. Seems to suggest poor diet, anxiety and the like.

They often get fruit and veg, even one of those bags of seed vitamin supplmemts that the pet shop recommended. Their cage is big and they are inside birds. Nothing seems to be scaring them.

Any ideas as to why this is and what to do?

[Niki_K]

I've heard that some get the taste for it, and repeatedly do so. You could try swapping partners in the hopes that this distracts them.

Are they doing it consistently? If the shells are thin, or the egg is dropped out of the nest or otherwise breaks, they'll usually eat it.

[Craig52]

Scott,sounds like a lack of calcium to me,have they got cuttle bone,sterilised eggshells etc Craig

[finchbreeder]

As above. Plus make imitation eggs from plaster of paris and replace their real eggs before they get to eat them is possible. Either way put the fakes in. And once they fail to destroy these they may give up.
LML

[sgreen91]

Went out this morning to buy the calcium block, ended up with 6. Will try the fake egg trick. The eggs don't fall out of the nest and are usually undamaged until the male which is always sitting on the eggs gets off for a few seconds, then the female scrambles in and eats the them.

Scott